Newbie Investor/Doctor Seeking Advice on a Deal

June 08, 2025
by an investor from University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Newbie here looking for general guidance:
I am a physician with some expertise/interest in wellness and functional medicine. I was offered a position as a Chief Medical Officer with a startup providing functional health and wellness options for clients. The existing sister company was recently valued at $50 million. The offer to join as CMO is a 1% equity stake in the company with a buy in of $150k (0.25%), sweat equity (0.25% with approx 20+ hrs per month expected), and future options (0.5% exercisable at a $50 million valuation, contingent upon the venture achieving a $500 million valuation or higher). The equity in the sister company is transferable to the startup. For reference, a comparable business that is new was recently valued at $2.5B. Also, there is no pay at this time as the startup is yet to launch.
Questions:
Is 1% low for an important piece to their puzzle? Health is key to their offering and that’s my area of expertise.
It seems like I’m being treated as an investor (buy in and future options) as well as a founder (no pay for work). Is that normal/reasonable?
Am I stupid for even asking these questions for a company with this much potential and I should just take what they offered and run with it?
from Columbia University in Fairfax, VA, USA
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Houston, TX, USA